6 Alumni Spotlight Feature We recently caught up with Gabby Boyd (B.A. Global Studies 2022). This spring she started the graduate program in Latin American Studies within the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. She took courses on the Political Economy of Latin America and Culture and Power in Latin America. She is also continuing to work on her proficiency in Spanish. What made you decide to go to graduate school? I wanted to gain more experience. As someone interested in Latin America, I felt like I needed to learn more about the region, its culture, and political affairs before going to work. How have you found the transition from Stillwater to the D.C. area? Washington, D.C. is so different from anywhere else that I have lived (like Florida and Oklahoma). There is always so much that is going on in D.C., plus the cost of living is so high. Everything is expensive there and Georgetown has different campuses. It has been an adjustment getting used to graduate classes. There are not as many assignments, and no quizzes. Instead, your grade is often based on participation and a paper. The papers aren’t the kind that you can do in a week or so. You have to start working on them right away. My transition to D.C. was busy, especially with starting classes in January, but manageable. Amazingly, I ran into Caitlin Brooks (B.A. Global Studies 2023) when she was visiting George Washington University and considering its graduate program in Global Health. It was such a surprise to see her in D.C.! She will be attending graduate school at George Washington University. What was the best part about being a student at OSU? Honestly, it was the community. I felt welcome at OSU from the time I stepped on campus, and I say that as someone who came to OSU as an out-of-state student. I always felt supported by my friends and the faculty at OSU, too. I’m not saying that there is no community at Georgetown; it’s just different. Georgetown is very competitive. I always felt like OSU promoted both community and the academics. What are you looking forward to? I have an internship that I will be starting in a few weeks in the country of Grenada. I will be working for the former Ambassador to the United Nations and current President of the Senate of Grenada, Ambassador Dessima Williams. We have talked about some different projects, so I’ll know more soon, but I am very excited to have this opportunity to work with someone with so much experience, and to be able to learn more about this Caribbean Island and the Caribbean region more broadly. What advice would you give to students in our department? Don’t be afraid to take risks especially in terms of getting involved with different organizations and seeking out internships. I was able to arrange an internship in Ecuador while I was a student at OSU. Being accepted into Georgetown was a long shot for me. I applied to a wide range of graduate programs, but I’m glad I took the risk and applied to Georgetown as well. If you are interested in something, apply or try it out because you just never know and it might work out.
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